Jamal Murray fought via an sickness to attain 25 factors and energy the Denver Nuggets previous the Thunder 119-107 on Thursday evening, sending the sequence again to Oklahoma Metropolis for a decisive Recreation 7.
Sick since Wednesday, Murray was listed as questionable for the sport. He ignited the Nuggets with a four-point play to start out issues off and sank a step-back 3-pointer to start out the fourth quarter that pushed Denver’s result in double digits for the primary time.
Nikola Jokic led Denver with 29 factors, 14 rebounds and eight assists, and Christian Braun scored a profession playoff-best 23 factors to go along with 12 rebounds. But it surely was second-year reserve guard Julian Strawther who ignited the Nuggets’ runaway, scoring a profession playoff-high 15 factors, all within the second half.
Strawther had a pair of 3s and a layup throughout a 10-0 third-quarter spurt that helped Denver take a double-digit lead, and he saved going within the fourth quarter because the Nuggets lastly had a laugher on this exhaustive, bodily sequence.
Recreation 7 is Sunday, with the Minnesota Timberwolves awaiting the winner after dispatching Golden State in 5 video games.
One destructive for Denver: Aaron Gordon grabbed at his left hamstring late within the sport and hobbled via the ultimate jiffy.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 32 factors, together with 18 after halftime regardless of enjoying with 4 fouls because the second quarter. However he didn’t get sufficient assist from his normally dependable teammates to clinch Oklahoma Metropolis’s first journey to the Western Convention Finals since 2016, when it misplaced to the Warriors in seven video games.
Chet Holmgren added 19 factors. All-Star Jalen Williams scored six factors on 3-of-16 taking pictures.
Though Lu Dort’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer gave the Thunder a 61-58 halftime lead, it was the Nuggets who swaggered via the tunnel after erasing a 12-point deficit with a 12-0 run over the ultimate 2:05 of the primary half, a run capped by Braun’s 3-pointer.
The Nuggets, who gained the title two years in the past, lastly get two days off after a grueling previous few weeks. They’ve performed each different day since April 29.
The Thunder have solely misplaced back-to-back video games twice this season, as soon as in November and as soon as in early April.
Reporting by The Related Press.
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